[3][5] O'Connor's pop career included a one-hit wonder as Fr Brian & The Fun Loving Cardinals, the comedy song "Who's in the House?
During the 2000s he served a member of the judging panel on Raidió Teilifís Éireann's (RTÉ) You're a Star TV talent contest before presenting The Apprentice: You're Fired!
[3] O'Connor, as a member of the band Fr Brian & The Fun Loving Cardinals, produced a single, "Who's in the House?
The character Fr Brian had appeared on Don't Feed the Gondolas,[11] and the popularity of the song led to its release, and subsequent chart position.
Much of the show's popularity was attributed to the robust manner with which O'Connor treated many of the contestants - many of whom were gullible young hopefuls.
[12] O'Connor frequently writes an article that appears on the bottom corner of the front page of the Sunday Independent.
He regularly writes on subjects such as politics, travel, entertainment and gossip (primarily relating to well-known figures in Irish life).
Irish political magazine The Phoenix, has criticised his journalism, saying: O'Connor appeared to believe that jokes and jibes in the Sindo about the elderly, Romanians, travellers, environmentalists, anti-war protesters and Republicans as well as individuals who were perceived as disrespectful to the newspaper, amounts to comic relief.
[3] O'Connor has also criticised Ahern at times, like in his article in the Sunday Independent, 9 May 2004, where he wrote: Bertie is a party leader who has knowingly promoted crooked colleagues in the past.
He is a party leader who has been notoriously slow to take sanctions against colleagues who've been up to their necks in all kinds of serious, deliberate, premeditated corruption.
[14]In this same article O'Connor lamented the expulsion of Beverley Flynn, a TD, from the Fianna Fáil Party for the second time arising out of corruption charges, stating that she was "indeed a class act and is someone we need more of in Irish politics.
O'Connor, along with Eoghan Harris, strongly supported Bertie Ahern during the 2007 general election and during his appearances before the Mahon Tribunal.
On Friday, 19 February 2010, Fianna Fáil TD Willie O'Dea resigned as Minister for Defence for committing perjury in front of the High Court.
On 12 November 2006 he wrote an article in the Sunday Tribune, "So who's the real daddy of the Pope's Children"[18] that ridiculed David McWilliams – who was one of the principal voices during the property bubble who warned about the potential effect on the Irish property market of interest rate increases, over-supply, the fact that average wages had fallen way behind the average price of a house, and existing high levels of personal indebtedness.
[19] On 21 Jan 2007 O’Connor penned an article "Jade Cowen and the Big Housing Bother that needs to be voted off".
Don't be pushed around by Cowen and smug buyers who think they're in the driving seat..." Soon after that on 11 Feb 2007 O’Connor advocated in another piece, "Shout from the rooftops: house prices are rising",[21] his opinion that "...
The journalist related in his article how O’Connor became angry, and didn't let him speak, with O'Connor claiming, “… I came here and opened up out of respect.
[26] This article made analogy of abusive domestic personal relationships with the central banks' position that caution must be exercised with respect to bailing out those with mortgage difficulties.
O' Connor used this device to make emotional appeal writing such as, "... naturally, like everyone in an abusive relationship, we are tending to blame ourselves in some way..." and, "... Clearly the Central Bank thinks that we are so battered and bruised at this stage, and that we have taken so much crap from them, that we will put up with anything..." O'Connor supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States government.
[3] In early 2004, O'Connor enraged some of his colleagues by strongly supporting management during an industrial relations crisis over forced redundancy.
[35][36] O'Connor wrote about her diagnosis with Down syndrome in his Sunday Independent column in September 2010, drawing a warm response from readers.